Information processing apparatus and control method thereof

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a technique that simplifies operations for making appropriate print settings. Accordingly, a terminal apparatus serving as an information processing apparatus according to the present invention acquires, from a printing apparatus, information indicating the sheet type and size of the sheets set in each paper feed tray. Then, the terminal apparatus determines whether the acquired information includes a sheet type that matches a sheet type suitable for an attribute of information selected by a user as a print target. If it is determined that the information includes a sheet type that matches the suitable sheet type, the terminal apparatus generates print data including information designating a paper feed tray containing sheets of the matching sheet type, and transmits the generated print data to the printing apparatus.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus anda control method thereof.

2. Description of the Related Art

In recent years, a technique has become available that allows a printerand an external apparatus such as a digital camera or a mobile phone toestablish wireless communication, and the printer to receive an imagefrom the external apparatus so as to print the image. With thistechnique, it is known that the printer and the external apparatus firstidentify their communication partner through short distance wirelesscommunication such as near field communication (NFC), and after that,the printer receives a print target image file from the externalapparatus through another wireless communication that is different fromand faster than the short distance wireless communication.

To actually perform printing, a user makes print settings in softwarethat executes printing, and then issues a print execution instruction,whereby the user obtains a desired print output. The print settingsinclude print setting items such as sheet type, sheet size and sheetfeeding method. The sheet type includes glossy sheet suitable forprinting photographs, standard sheet suitable for printing documents,and the like. Needless to say, it is necessary to make appropriatesettings in the setting items. In particular, with inkjet printing, inorder to perform image forming processing appropriate for the sheettype, it is necessary to make appropriate settings so as to obtain afavorable print output.

The user is required to make appropriate print settings, but it istroublesome for the user to perform such print setting operations, andthus there is demand for the software to automatically make optimalsettings.

In order to reduce the effort required by the user to perform settingoperations, a method is proposed in which an appropriate paper feed trayis selected based on sheet attributes (size and type) designated by theuser, and a sheet with the designated attributes is used to the highestdegree possible even if the sheet with the designated attributes is runout. One example thereof is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.11-48580.

According to the aforementioned document, however, an appropriate paperfeed tray is selected based on the sheet attributes designated by theuser. In other words, the user is required to select appropriate sheetattributes from among a large number of sheet types, which imposessignificant operational burden on the user and makes operationscomplicated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been made in view of the problem describedabove, and is intended to provide a technique that simplifies operationsfor making appropriate print settings.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is a provided aninformation processing apparatus capable of performing communicationwith a printing apparatus, the information processing apparatuscomprising: an acquisition unit configured to acquire sheet informationindicating sheets set in paper feed trays provided in the printingapparatus; a determination unit configured to determine a sheetattribute that is used to perform printing based on an attribute ofprint target data; and a print data generation unit configured to, ifthe sheet attribute determined by the determination unit is included inthe sheet information acquired by the acquisition unit, generate printdata based on the print target data such that printing is performedusing a sheet corresponding to the sheet attribute.

According to the present invention, it is possible to simplifyoperations for making appropriate print settings even more thanconventional techniques.

Further features of the present invention will become apparent from thefollowing description of exemplary embodiments (with reference to theattached drawings).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and,together with the description, serve to explain the principles of theinvention.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a printing systemaccording to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an external view of a terminal apparatus.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrams showing external views of a printingapparatus.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the terminalapparatus.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the printingapparatus.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a sheet information registration screen.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an application software activation screen.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an image print screen.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a document print screen.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a print settings screen.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a sheet settings screen.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a list of selectable sheet sizes.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a list of selectable sheets.

FIGS. 14A and 14B are diagrams showing examples of sheet informationsettings.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a sheet information selectionscreen presented to a user.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of processing accordingto a first embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of processing accordingto a second embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of processing accordingto a third embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will bedescribed in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Itshould be noted that the embodiments given below are not intended tolimit the invention or the scope of the appended claims, and that notall the combinations of features described in the embodiments arenecessarily essential to the solving means of the present invention.

First Embodiment

Overall System Configuration

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a print processingsystem. This system includes an access point 100, a terminal apparatus200 serving as a mobile information processing apparatus that can beconnected to the access point 100, and a printing apparatus 300. Theterminal apparatus 200 that also functions as a communication apparatusincludes at least two wireless communication units having differentcommunication speeds (or communicable ranges). The terminal apparatus200 can be any type of apparatus as long as it is an apparatus that canhandle files that will be print targets such as a personal digitalassistant (PDA), a mobile phone (including a smart phone), or a digitalcamera. The printing apparatus 300 which also functions as acommunication apparatus includes a reading function of reading anoriginal placed on a platen and a print function of performing printingusing a printing engine such as an inkjet printer, and may furtherinclude a fax function and a telephone function.

The access point 100 and the printing apparatus 300 can be connected bya wireless LAN, but may be connected by a wired LAN. The access point100 and the terminal apparatus 200 can also be connected by a wirelessLAN. The terminal apparatus 200 and the printing apparatus 300 arecapable of performing communication through short distance wirelesscommunication. The printing apparatus 300 has an AP mode, and when theAP mode is enabled, the terminal apparatus 200 and the printingapparatus 300 can also perform peer-to-peer communication by a wirelessLAN. When the AP mode is enabled, the terminal apparatus 200 and theprinting apparatus 300 perform peer-to-peer communication by using anaccess point provided in the printing apparatus 300. The printingapparatus 300 may perform communication with the access point 100 whilepeer-to-peer communication is established between the terminal apparatus200 and the printing apparatus 300 via the access point of the printingapparatus 300. Whether the printing apparatus enables only the AP modeor both the AP mode communication and the communication with the accesspoint 100 is determined based on an instruction from the user.

External View of Terminal Apparatus

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an external view of the terminal apparatus200. In the present embodiment, a smart phone is used as an example ofthe terminal apparatus. As used herein, “smart phone” refers to amultifunctional mobile phone including, in addition to a mobile phonefunction, a camera function, an internet browser function and an emailfunction. An NFC (near field communication) unit 201 is a unitconfigured to perform short distance wireless communication.Communication can be established by actually bringing the NFC unit 201within a predetermined distance (about 10 cm) from an NFC unit providedin the communication partner (in the present embodiment, an NFC unitprovided in the printing apparatus 300).

A wireless LAN unit 202 is a unit configured to perform wireless LANcommunication. The wireless LAN unit 202 is capable of performing higherspeed communication than the NFC unit, and is disposed within theterminal apparatus 200. A display unit 203 is a display including, forexample, an LCD display mechanism. An operation unit 204 includes atouch panel type operation mechanism, and is configured to detect pressinformation regarding a pressing operation performed by the user. Atypical operation method is performed such that button icons and asoftware keyboard are displayed by the display unit 203, and when theuser presses the operation unit 204, an event indicating that a buttonhas been pressed is issued. A power key 205 is used to turn power on oroff.

External View of Printing Apparatus

FIG. 3A is a diagram showing an external view of the printing apparatus300 including a plurality of paper feed trays, and FIG. 3B is a top viewof the same. In the present embodiment, a multi function printer (MFP)having a reading (scanner) function is used as an example of theprinting apparatus. In FIG. 3A, a platen 301 is a transparent glasstable, which is used to place an original thereon so that the originalis read with a scanner. An original cover 302 is a cover for preventingleakage of reading light to the outside during reading with a scanner.Print paper feed trays 303 a and 303 b are paper feed trays in whichsheets of various types of sizes are set. The present embodiment will bedescribed using an example in which two paper feed trays 303 areprovided, but there is no limitation on the number of paper feed trays,and three or more paper feed trays may be provided. The sheets set inthe print paper feed tray 303 a or 303 b are conveyed one by one to aprinting unit so as to be printed, and then discharged from a printedsheet discharge tray 304. The sheet size and the sheet type of thesheets set in the print paper feed trays 303 a and 303 b can beregistered in the printing apparatus 300 as sheet information. A methodfor registering sheet information will be described later.

As shown in FIG. 3B, on the original cover 302, an operation displayunit 305 and an NFC unit 306 are disposed. The NFC unit 306 is a unitconfigured to perform short distance wireless communication, and it isthe location where the terminal apparatus 200 is actually brought closerso as to come into proximity with the printing apparatus 300. Theeffective distance for establishing a connection is set to apredetermined distance (about 10 cm) from the NFC unit 306. A wirelessLAN antenna 307 is an antenna for wireless LAN communication, which isembedded in the original cover.

As used herein, “short distance wireless communication” means wirelesscommunication in a relatively short communication range (for example, 1meter to several centimeters), as typified by NFC.

Configuration of Terminal Apparatus

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the terminalapparatus. The terminal apparatus 200 includes a main board 210 thatperforms overall control on the apparatus, the wireless LAN unit 202,the NFC unit 201, a line connecting unit 206, the operation unit 204 andthe display unit 203. Here, the wireless LAN unit 202, the NFC unit 201and the line connecting unit 206 function as a communication unit of theterminal apparatus 200.

A CPU 211 in the form of a microprocessor disposed on the main board 210performs operations in accordance with a control program stored in aprogram memory 213 in the form of a ROM connected via an internal bus212 and the content of a data memory 214 in the form of a RAM.

The CPU 211 performs communication with another communication terminalapparatus via a wireless LAN 102 by controlling the wireless LAN unit202 via a wireless LAN control circuit 215. The CPU 211 can detect aconnection with another NFC terminal via NFC 101 or perform datatransmission and reception with another NFC terminal by controlling theNFC unit 201 via an NFC control circuit 216. The CPU 211 can connect toa mobile phone network 105 and perform a telephone conversation and datatransmission and reception by controlling the line connecting unit 206via a line control circuit 217.

The CPU 211 can receive instructions from the user via the operationunit 204 and display various types of menus, images and the like on thedisplay unit 203 by controlling an operation unit control circuit 218.The CPU 211 can capture images by controlling a camera unit 219, andstore captured images in an image memory 220 provided in the data memory214. The CPU 211 can also store, in addition to captured images, imagesacquired from the outside via the mobile phone network 105, the wirelessLAN 102 or the NFC 101 in the image memory 220, and transmit images tothe outside.

A non-volatile memory 221 is composed of a memory such as a flashmemory, and is configured to store data that needs to be saved evenafter power is turned off. Examples of the data stored in thenon-volatile memory 221 include telephone book data, various types ofcommunication connection information, device information regardingdevices with which connections were made in the past, image data thatneeds to be saved, and programs such as application software that causesthe terminal apparatus 200 to implement various types of functions.

Configuration of Printing Apparatus

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the printingapparatus. The printing apparatus 300 includes a main board 310 thatperforms overall control on the apparatus, a line connecting unit 322, awireless LAN unit 308, the NFC unit 306 and an operation panel 305.Here, the line connecting unit 322, the wireless LAN unit 308 and theNFC unit 306 function as a communication unit of the printing apparatus300.

A CPU 311 in the form of a microprocessor disposed on the main board 310executes processing in accordance with a control program stored in aprogram memory 313 in the form of a ROM connected via an internal bus312 and the content of a data memory 314 in the form of a RAM.

The CPU 311 reads an original by controlling a scanner unit 315, andstores the read original in an image memory 316 provided in the datamemory 314. The CPU 311 can also print images stored in the image memory316 provided in the data memory 314 onto a recording medium bycontrolling a printing unit 317.

The CPU 311 can perform printing of print data received from the outsidevia a line control unit 321. The CPU 311 can print data in the form of avendor-specific print command, lossy compression data specified by astandard specification such as JPEG, lossless compression data such asPWG Raster or Tiff, and the like.

The CPU 311 performs communication with another communication terminalapparatus via the wireless LAN 102 by controlling the wireless LAN unit308 via a wireless LAN control circuit 318. Also, the CPU 311 can detecta connection with another NFC terminal via the NFC 101 or perform datatransmission and reception with another NFC terminal by controlling theNFC unit 306 via an NFC control circuit 319. The CPU 311 can connect toa telephone network 323 and perform fax transmission and reception anddata transmission and reception by controlling the line connecting unit322 via a line control circuit 321.

The CPU 311 can display, on the operation panel 305, the state of theprinting apparatus 300 and a function selection menu by controlling anoperation display unit control circuit 320, and accept operations fromthe user. Accordingly, the operation panel 305 is composed of a touchpanel display having various types of switches and buttons.

It is assumed that the following information is stored in an unshownmemory (non-volatile memory) provided in the NFC unit 306:

(1) information indicating that the printing apparatus has a respondingfunction of providing sheet information (the material and the size ofsheets) regarding the sheets set in the paper feed trays in response toa query request from the outside; and

(2) parameters (SSID, encryption scheme, encryption key and the like)for performing higher speed wireless LAN communication than NFCcommunication.

In other words, the device having an NFC communication function (theterminal apparatus 200 of the present embodiment) can acquire the aboveinformation (1) and (2) through NFC communication with the printingapparatus 300. The information (1) is for discriminating whether or not,for example, the printing apparatus 300 is capable of responding to thequery request, and thus it is possible to instead use the model name ormodel number of the printing apparatus. The terminal apparatus 200 canaccess a database provided in the terminal apparatus or an externaldatabase based on the model name, and determine whether or not theprinting apparatus has the responding function.

Sheet Information Registration Screen

FIG. 6 shows a sheet information registration screen displayed on theoperation panel 305 of the printing apparatus 300. The screen isautomatically displayed on a display screen in response to the usersetting sheets in one (303 a or 303 b) of the print paper feed trays.However, the sheet information registration screen may be displayedthrough an operation of selecting a sheet setting item from an initialmenu. As shown in the diagram, the sheet information registration screenincludes two items with respect to one paper feed tray, the two itemsbeing respectively displayed in a sheet size display area 601 and asheet type display area 602. These items are displayed in the form ofcombo boxes, and as a result of the user selecting one entry from eachcombo box, the sheet size and the sheet type of the sheets set by theuser can be set. Then, in response to the user pressing (touching) aregistration button 603, the information can be registered.

The printing apparatus 300 according to the present embodiment includestwo paper feed trays 303 a and 303 b. Accordingly, the aboveregistration operation is performed for each paper feed tray. The CPU311 of the printing apparatus 300 stores the registered information inthe data memory 314 (desirably a non-volatile memory).

Application Software Screen

FIG. 7 shows an activation screen for activating application softwarethat runs on the terminal apparatus 200 according to the presentembodiment. On the activation screen, a photograph printing screentransition button 701 and a document printing screen transition button702 are disposed. In response to the user pressing either button,transition is performed to a screen for selecting an intended printtarget file (print target data).

FIG. 8 shows an image print screen to which transition is made inresponse to the photograph printing screen transition button 701 beingpressed. On the screen, a list of thumbnails of image files stored inthe image memory 220 is displayed. By the user selecting a desired imageand pressing a print button 802, the selected image is printed.

FIG. 9 shows a document print screen to which transition is made inresponse to the document printing screen transition button 702 beingpressed. In a document data display area 901, a list of document datafiles in the PDF (portable document format) format and the like storedin the data memory 214 is displayed. By the user selecting a desireddata file and pressing the print button 802, the selected data isprinted.

Alternatively, in a state in which a desired image or document data isselected on the image print screen or the document print screen, theterminal apparatus 200 is brought closer to the printing apparatus 300.To be specific, the terminal apparatus 200 is brought closer to theprinting apparatus 300 until the distance between the NFC unit 201 ofthe terminal apparatus 200 and the NFC unit 306 of the printingapparatus 300 is less than or equal to a distance (about 10 cm) thatallows NFC communication to be established therebetween. It may also bepossible to print selected data through this operation. In this case,the application software according to the present embodiment performsprinting without accepting any special print settings from the user, thedetails of which will be described later.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a print settings screen, and transition ismade to this screen in response to the print button 802 being pressed onthe image print screen or the document print screen. The print settingsscreen includes a thumbnail display area 1001 for displaying an imageselected on the image print screen, and a printing apparatus namedisplay area 1002 for displaying the name of the printing apparatus withwhich printing is to be performed. The screen shown in FIG. 10 furtherincludes a sheet settings display area 1003 for displaying the currentsheet settings such as the sheet size and the sheet type, anumber-of-sets display area 1004 for displaying the number of sets, anda print button 1005. Nothing is displayed in the thumbnail display area1001 if transition is made from the document print screen to thisscreen. For example, a case is assumed where the terminal apparatus 200does not have a function of converting a document to image data that canbe interpreted by the printing apparatus 300. Processing performed inthis case will now be described. If a document is selected andthereafter the print button 802 is pressed on the screen shown in FIG.9, the terminal apparatus 200 transmits the document to a server withwhich communication is possible. Then, the server converts the documentto image data, and transmits the image data to the terminal apparatus.The terminal apparatus 200 displays the received image data as a previewimage. If a print button is pressed on the screen displaying the previewimage, the screen shown in FIG. 10 is displayed. However, the previewimage of the print target document was already displayed, and thus thethumbnail image is not displayed on the screen shown in FIG. 10.However, it may also be possible to display the thumbnail image on thescreen shown in FIG. 10. The printing apparatus with which printing isto be performed is set on another menu (not shown) of the applicationsoftware. The sheet settings can be made by pressing the sheet settingsdisplay area 1003. The setting method will be described later. In thenumber-of-sets display area 1004, the number of sets can be set.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a sheet settings screen. This screen is ascreen to which transition is made in response to the sheet settingsdisplay area 1003 being pressed. The sheet settings screen includes asheet size display area 1101, a sheet type display area 1102, and amargin settings display area 1103. In response to the sheet size displayarea 1101 being pressed, a list 1201 listing selectable sheet sizes asshown in FIG. 12 is displayed, and thus the user can select a desiredsize from among the list. In response to the sheet type display area1102 being pressed, a list 1301 listing selectable sheets as shown inFIG. 13 is displayed, and thus the user can select a desired sheet typefrom among the list. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 13,“plain paper”, “Photo Paper Plus Glossy II”, “Photo Paper PlusSemi-gloss”, “Glossy Photo Paper”, “High Resolution Paper”, “PhotoPaper”, “envelope” and “Hagaki” can be set.

Sheet Information Setting Values and Priority Print Conditions

FIG. 14A is a diagram showing examples of sheet information set in theprinting apparatus 300 according to the present embodiment. The printingapparatus 300 includes two print paper feed trays 303 a and 303 b. Withrespect to paper feed tray 1 (the print paper feed tray 303 a) shown inthe diagram, “Photo Paper Plus Glossy II” is set as the sheet type(indicating the material and surface characteristics of the sheet), and“3R(L)” is set as the sheet size. Likewise, with respect to paper feedtray 2 (the print paper feed tray 303 b) shown in the diagram, “plainpaper” is set as the sheet type, and “A4” is set as the sheet size.

FIG. 14B shows other examples of sheet information set in the same. Thisdiagram shows an example in which with respect to the paper feed tray 1,“plain paper” is set as the sheet type and “3R(L)” is set as the sheetsize. The diagram also shows an example in which with respect to thepaper feed tray 2, “plain paper” is set as the sheet type, and “A4” isset as the sheet size.

In order to simplify the description, it is assumed that the sheetinformation shown in FIG. 14A is set and registered in the printingapparatus 300 of the present embodiment.

On the other hand, it is assumed in the terminal apparatus 200, asetting has been made such that the sheets indicated by group 1 are usedpreferentially if the print target is a non-photographic image (a PDFfile or the like). It is also assumed that a setting has been made suchthat the sheets indicated by group 2 are used preferentially if theprint target is a photographic image. The sheet types belonging to thegroups 1 and 2 are as follows:

group 1={“plain paper”, “High Resolution Paper” }; and

group 2={“Photo Paper Plus Glossy II”, “Photo Paper Plus Semi-gloss”,“Glossy Photo Paper”, “Photo Paper”}.

Note that “envelope” and “Hagaki” are not included in any of the groups.

Although the details will be described later, under the above-describedconditions, the terminal apparatus 200 issues, to the printing apparatus300, a request for information regarding the recording paper set in thepaper feed trays 303 a and 303 b. As a result, the terminal apparatus200 acquires the information shown in FIG. 14A from the printingapparatus 300. It is assumed here that a photographic image has alreadybeen selected by the terminal apparatus 200 as the print target. In thecase of a photographic image, according to the above conditions, thegroup 2 is set as the recommended sheets, and thus the CPU 211 of theterminal apparatus 200 determines whether or not there is, in the group2, a sheet type that matches the sheet types acquired from the printingapparatus 300. The group 2 includes “Photo Paper Plus Glossy II”, whichis set with respect to the paper feed tray 1 (the paper feed tray 303 a)in FIG. 14A, and thus the CPU 211 determines the use of the paper feedtray 1 (the paper feed tray 303 a) of the printing apparatus 300. Also,the CPU 211 determines image processing specialized for the sheet type,and at the same time also determines the magnification factor for thephotographic image serving as the print target because the CPU 211 canacquire “3R(L)” as the print size. Then, the CPU 211 executes thedetermined processing on the print target image data so as to generateprint data including a command for designating the paper feed tray 303a, and transmits the print data to the printing apparatus 300.

The foregoing has described an example in which a photographic image isselected as the print target. In the following, an example will bedescribed in which a PDF file is selected. The PDF file is anon-photographic image file, and thus the sheets belonging to the group1 are determined as the selection candidates. Among the information(FIG. 14A) acquired from the printing apparatus 300, “plain paper”matches one of the sheet types belonging to the group 1. Accordingly,the CPU 211 determines the use of the recording paper set in the paperfeed tray 2 (the paper feed tray 303 b). In this case, the CPU 211 canacquire “A4 size” as the size, and thus performs processing based onthat size so as to generate print data including a command fordesignating the paper feed tray 2, and transmits the print data to theprinting apparatus 300.

A situation may occur in which in the information acquired from theprinting apparatus, there is no sheet type that matches any one of thesheet types defined by the priority groups. In this case, the sheetinformation is presented to the user. In other words, the sheetinformation regarding the sheets currently set in the printer isdisplayed.

Processing Flow

Hereinafter, a processing flow performed by the CPU 211 of the terminalapparatus 200 according to the present embodiment will be described withreference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 16. The flowchart of theterminal apparatus 200 according to the present invention is implementedby the CPU 211 reading a program related to this flowchart and executingthe program.

With the terminal apparatus 200, the user activates an application onthe screen shown in FIG. 7, selects a print target, and brings theterminal apparatus 200 closer to the printing apparatus 300 so that NFCcommunication is established with the printing apparatus 300(hereinafter, the series of operations will be referred to as an “NFCtouch operation”). As a result, the CPU 211 of the terminal apparatus200 starts NFC communication with the NFC unit 306 of the printingapparatus 300 via the NFC unit 201. Upon establishment of the NFCcommunication, the CPU 211 acquires information stored in thenon-volatile memory provided in the NFC unit 306 of the printingapparatus 300 (S1601). The information includes parameters (SSID,encryption scheme, encryption key and the like) for performing wirelesscommunication with the printing apparatus 300, and informationindicating that the printing apparatus 300 is capable of responding to apaper feed tray query command (information indicating that the printingapparatus 300 is capable of interpreting the command). However, in thecase of a printing apparatus other than the printing apparatus 300 ofthe present embodiment, care should be taken because the latterinformation is not necessarily stored in the printing apparatus. Inaddition, after completion of acquisition of the information, it isunnecessary to maintain the NFC communication distance between theterminal apparatus 200 and the printing apparatus 300, and thus the usermay move the terminal apparatus 200 away from the printing apparatus 300and perform operations in a natural posture.

The CPU 211 sets parameters related to wireless LAN communication in thewireless LAN control circuit 215 according to the acquired information,and establishes communication with the printing apparatus 300 by usingthe wireless LAN unit 202 (S1602). Here, the information is acquiredfrom the printing apparatus 300 through NFC communication, but it isalso possible to use a configuration in which necessary information isacquired by using an interface such as the Bluetooth® or the Bluetooth®Low Energy.

Next, in S1603, the CPU 211 analyzes the information acquired from theprinting apparatus 300 in a preceding step, namely, S1601, anddetermines whether or not the printing apparatus 300 is capable ofinterpreting the paper feed tray query command (S1603). If it isdetermined that the printing apparatus 300 is not capable ofinterpreting the command, the terminal apparatus 200 cannot acquire thesheet type and size of the sheets set in the printing apparatus 300.Accordingly, the procedure proceeds to S1604, where a sheet settingsscreen is displayed. Then, the CPU 211 prompts the user to make sheetsettings, confirm the setting values set on the print settings screen,and then press the print button. Upon detection of this pressingoperation, the CPU 211 reflects the setting values in the print settings(S1605), generates print data based on the settings information, andperforms transmission processing using a wireless LAN (S1614). Forexample, the terminal apparatus 200 generates print data including thesettings information and image data.

If, on the other hand, it is determined that the printing apparatus 300is capable of interpreting the paper feed tray query command, theprocedure proceeds to step S1606, where the CPU 211 transmits the paperfeed tray query command to the printing apparatus 300 through thewireless LAN communication. As a result, the printing apparatus 300returns information indicating the sheet type and size of the sheets setin the paper feed trays 303 a and 303 b of the printing apparatus 300(in the present embodiment, the information shown in FIG. 14A), and theterminal apparatus 200 receives the information through the wireless LANcommunication.

Next, the CPU 211 discriminates whether an attribute of the dataselected by the user as the print target indicates a photographic fileor a non-photographic file (a document file such as a PDF file) (S1607).In the present embodiment, the discrimination is made by determiningwhether the user pressed the photograph printing screen transitionbutton 701 or the document printing screen transition button 702 on theapplication software activation screen. A configuration is also possiblein which the application accepts a selection of target data to beprinted and discriminates the attribute of the selected data file basedon the identifier of the file.

If the print target is determined as photograph, the CPU 211 sets “group2” as the priority sheet setting (S1608). As described above, “group 2”includes “Photo Paper Plus Glossy II”, “Photo Paper Plus Semi-gloss”,“Glossy Photo Paper”, and “Photo Paper”. If, on the other hand, theprint target is determined as non-photograph, or in other words, asdocument, the CPU 211 sets “group 1” as the priority sheet setting(S1609). As described above, “group 1” includes “plain paper” and “HighResolution Paper”. Through the processing performed in step S1608 orS1609, the sheet type (sheet attribute) corresponding to the selectedprint target data is determined.

In S1610, the CPU 211 judges whether the paper feed tray informationacquired in S1606 includes a sheet type that matches any one of thesheet types belonging to the group determined in step S1608 or S1609. Ifit is judged that the paper feed tray information includes a sheet typethat matches any one of the sheet types belonging to the determinedgroup, the CPU 211 sets information in the print settings according tothe paper feed tray in which the sheet type is registered and the typeand size of the sheet (S1613). If, on the other hand, it is judged thatthe paper feed tray information does not include a sheet type thatmatches any one of the sheet types belonging to the determined group,the CPU 211 presents the sheet information acquired in S1606 to the userin a selectable manner (S1611).

FIG. 15 shows a screen displayed when, for example, “plain paper” is setin both the paper feed trays 303 a and 303 b of the printing apparatus300, “3R(L)” is set in one of the paper feed trays 303 a and 303 b, “A4size” is set in the other paper feed tray, and the user selects to printa photograph. In this case, “plain paper” is not registered in the group2, and thus the screen shown in FIG. 15 is displayed. In response to theuser selecting desired sheet information from among the displayedselectable sheets, the CPU 211 sets print settings information accordingto the selected paper feed tray and the sheet size (S1612). If there isno desired selection candidate, the user may cancel the printingoperation by pressing a cancel button 1502.

Finally, in S1614, print data generation processing (includingmagnification processing) is performed based on the print settingsinformation set in any one of the steps S1605, S1612 and S1613 and theprint target file (print target data). If the sheet information includesthe sheet type (sheet attribute) selected in S1608 or S1609, print datafor printing the print target data onto a sheet corresponding to thesheet attribute selected in S1608 or S1609 is generated in S1614. Then,the CPU 211 transmits the generated print data (including a paper feedtray designating command) to the printing apparatus 300 through thewireless LAN communication.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, the user of theterminal apparatus 200 performs operations of selecting a print targetdata (file) and bringing the terminal apparatus 200 within the NFCcommunication range of the printing apparatus 300. Then, after theoperations, the selected data is printed onto a print sheet suitable forthe selected data (file) without requiring a special print settingoperation to be performed.

In the first embodiment, an example was described in which the terminalapparatus 200 acquires, through wireless LAN communication, informationindicating whether or not the printing apparatus 300 has the ability ofresponding to the paper feed tray query. However, as long as thenon-volatile memory provided in the NFC unit 306 of the printingapparatus 300 has a capacity sufficient to store sheet information, thesheet information may be acquired through NFC communication establishedfirst between the NFC units. In addition, the number of paper feed traysis not limited to two, and may be three or more.

Also, in FIG. 16, the determination in S1603 is made by using theinformation acquired through NFC communication, but the processing maybe performed without using NFC communication. For example, aconfiguration is possible in which the user selects an access point onthe screen of the terminal apparatus 200, and then selects a printingapparatus the user wants to use to perform printing from among a list ofprinting apparatuses connected to the selected access point. Then, theterminal apparatus 200 acquires print function information from theselected printing apparatus via the access point. The terminal apparatus200 may judge, based on the acquired print function information, whetheror not the printing apparatus can interpret the paper feed tray querycommand. In the case where the print function information includes sheetinformation, the terminal apparatus 200 may execute step S1607 afterstep S1603, without performing step S1606.

Furthermore, in the present embodiment, an example was described inwhich the sheet information includes both the sheet type and the sheetsize, but it is sufficient that at least the sheet type is included inthe sheet information.

Second Embodiment

A processing flow according to a second embodiment of the presentinvention is shown in FIG. 17. The processing flow shown in the diagramis the same as that of the first embodiment except that steps S1701 andS1702 are added. Accordingly, only the difference from the firstembodiment will be described here.

In S1701, it is judged whether or not the print target file includesinformation indicating output sheet size (output sheet size information)(this judging processing is also referred to as “size judgment”). If itis judged that the print target file does not include the output sheetsize information, the procedure proceeds to S1607. If, on the otherhand, it is judged that the print target file includes the output sheetsize information, the procedure proceeds to S1702, where “the outputsheet size included in the print target” is set as the priority printsetting.

In the first embodiment described above, the sheet type is set as thepriority print setting, and groups are set as the setting values. In thesecond embodiment, the sheet size is set as a priority print setting,and as an additional setting value, a specific sheet size (here, theoutput sheet size included in the print target) is set. In S1610, it isconfirmed whether there is sheet information corresponding to thepriority print setting set in S1702.

Third Embodiment

A third embodiment will be described by way of an example in which printdata more suitable for the print target is transmitted to the printingapparatus 300. Generally speaking, if the print target is photographicdata, it is desirable to transmit lossy compression data having abalance between good image quality and data size, and if the printtarget is a document, it is desirable to transmit lossless compressiondata that does not cause an image degradation. Accordingly, in the thirdembodiment, processing for generating print data in a compression schemecorresponding to the attribute of print target data will be described.

A processing flow according to the third embodiment is shown in FIG. 18.The processing flow shown in the diagram is the same as that of thefirst embodiment except that steps S1608 and S1609 are respectivelyreplaced by steps S1801 and S1802 and that the processing performed inS1614 is partially changed. Accordingly, only the differences from thefirst embodiment will be described here.

If it is determined in S1607 that the print target is a photograph, theCPU 211 sets “group 2” as the priority sheet setting, and setsinformation indicating lossy compression data in a storage area (notshown) for storing the type of print data generated by print datageneration processing (S1801). If it is determined that the print targetis a document, the CPU 211 sets “group 1” as the priority sheet setting,and sets information indicating lossless compression data in the storagearea for storing the type of print data generated by print processing inS1614 (S1802). With the print data generation processing, data to betransmitted to the printing apparatus 300 is generated according to theinformation regarding the type of print data set in steps S1801 andS1802, and then transmitted to the printing apparatus 300. To bespecific, in the case where information indicating lossy compressiondata is set, JPEG data is generated by the print data generationprocessing. In the case where information indicating losslesscompression data is set, PWG Raster data is generated by the print datageneration processing. In the case where information indicating losslesscompression data is set and the target data is composed only of blackdata, 1 bit Tiff data may be generated in consideration of the amount ofdata. The JPEG data and the PWG Raster data are merely examples, andthus data in any other format may be generated.

Other Embodiments

In the present invention, the group 1 or 2 is determined with referenceto the sheet type, and the processing in step S1610 is performed byusing the sheet type, but the sheet size may be used instead of thesheet type. In this case, it is sufficient that the sheet informationacquired from the printing apparatus 300 includes at least informationregarding the sheet size. In the case where the processing in step S1610is performed by using the sheet size, the sheet size is used as thesheet attribute. It is also possible to use both the sheet type and thesheet size. In the case where the processing in step S1610 is performedby using both the sheet type and the sheet size, the sheet type and thesheet size are used as the sheet attribute.

Also, in the present invention, FIGS. 16 and 17 were described as theprocessing performed by the terminal apparatus 200, but FIGS. 16 and 17may be executed as the processing performed by an application that runson the terminal apparatus 200.

Embodiment(s) of the present invention can also be realized by acomputer of a system or apparatus that reads out and executes computerexecutable instructions (e.g., one or more programs) recorded on astorage medium (which may also be referred to more fully as a‘non-transitory computer-readable storage medium’) to perform thefunctions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s) and/orthat includes one or more circuits (e.g., application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC)) for performing the functions of one or moreof the above-described embodiment(s), and by a method performed by thecomputer of the system or apparatus by, for example, reading out andexecuting the computer executable instructions from the storage mediumto perform the functions of one or more of the above-describedembodiment(s) and/or controlling the one or more circuits to perform thefunctions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s). Thecomputer may comprise one or more processors (e.g., central processingunit (CPU), micro processing unit (MPU)) and may include a network ofseparate computers or separate processors to read out and execute thecomputer executable instructions. The computer executable instructionsmay be provided to the computer, for example, from a network or thestorage medium. The storage medium may include, for example, one or moreof a hard disk, a random-access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM),a storage of distributed computing systems, an optical disk (such as acompact disc (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD), or Blu-ray Disc (BD)™),a flash memory device, a memory card, and the like.

While the present invention has been described with reference toexemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of thefollowing claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as toencompass all such modifications and equivalent structures andfunctions.

This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No.2014-136218, filed Jul. 1, 2014 and Japanese Patent Application No.2015-028861, filed Feb. 17, 2015, which are hereby incorporated byreference herein in their entirety.

What is claimed is:
 1. An information processing apparatus having afirst wireless communication unit and a second wireless communicationunit which is capable of performing higher speed communication than thefirst wireless communication unit, the information processing apparatuscomprising: an acquisition unit configured to acquire communicationinformation from an image forming apparatus using the first wirelesscommunication unit, wherein the image forming apparatus prints using asheet in a feed tray of the image forming apparatus; a determinationunit configured to determine a sheet attribute that is used to performprinting based on an attribute of print; a communication control unitconfigured to cause the second wireless communication unit to establishcommunication with the image forming apparatus using the acquiredcommunication information; and a transmission unit configured totransmit print target data to the image forming apparatus via theestablished communication, wherein sheet information for the feed trayis stored in the image forming apparatus, wherein, if the sheetattribute determined by the determination unit corresponds to the sheetinformation for the feed tray stored in the image forming apparatus,printing is performed, and wherein if the sheet attribute determined bythe determination unit does not correspond to the sheet information forthe feed tray stored in the image forming apparatus, the sheetinformation for the feed tray being stored in the image formingapparatus and an option corresponding to a print cancellation aredisplayed in a display area, and then processing based on an instructioninput via the display area is performed.
 2. The apparatus according toclaim 1, further comprising a variable magnification unit configured tochange a magnification of the print target data based on a sheet sizeset for a determined feed tray.
 3. The apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the attribute of the print is selected from options including aphoto printing and a document printing.
 4. The apparatus according toclaim 1, further comprising a judgement unit configured to judge whetherthe attribute of print is a photographic attribute or a non-photographicattribute based on an option selected from a photo printing and adocument printing.
 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, furthercomprising: a discrimination unit configured to discriminate whether ornot the image forming apparatus has a function of transmitting theinformation in response to a request from the acquisition unit; and adisplay unit configured to, if a result of the discrimination by thediscrimination unit indicates that the image forming apparatus does nothave the function, display a sheet information settings screen formaking print settings.
 6. The apparatus according to claim 1, whereinthe sheet attribute is sheet type or sheet size, and the sheetinformation includes sheet type information or sheet size information.7. A control method for controlling an information processing apparatushaving a first wireless communication unit and a second wirelesscommunication unit which is capable of performing higher speedcommunication than the first wireless communication unit, the methodcomprising: acquiring communication information from an image formingapparatus using the first wireless communication unit, wherein the imageforming apparatus prints using a sheet in a feed tray of the imageforming apparatus; determining a sheet attribute that is used to performprinting based on an attribute of print; causing the second wirelesscommunication unit to establish communication with the image formingapparatus using the acquired communication information; and transmittingprint target data to the image forming apparatus via the establishedcommunication, wherein sheet information for the feed tray is stored inthe image forming apparatus, wherein, if the determined sheet attributecorresponds to the sheet information for the feed tray stored in theimage forming apparatus, printing is performed, and wherein, if thedetermined sheet attribute does not correspond to the sheet informationfor the feed tray stored in the image forming apparatus, the sheetinformation for the feed tray being stored in the image formingapparatus and an option corresponding to a print cancellation aredisplayed in a display area, and then processing based on an instructioninput via the display area is performed.
 8. The method according toclaim 7, further comprising changing a magnification of the print targetdata based on a sheet size set for a determined feed tray.
 9. The methodaccording to claim 7, wherein the attribute of the print is selectedfrom options including a photo printing and document printing.
 10. Themethod according to claim 7, further comprising judging whether theattribute of print is a photographic attribute or a non-photographicattribute based on an option selected from a photo printing and adocument printing.
 11. The method according to claim 7, furthercomprising: discriminating whether or not the image forming apparatushas a function of transmitting the information in response to a requestmade in the acquiring; and displaying, if a result of the discriminationindicates that the image forming apparatus does not have the function,displaying a sheet information settings screen for making printsettings.
 12. The method according to claim 7, wherein the sheetattribute is sheet type or sheet size, and the sheet informationincludes sheet type information or sheet size information.
 13. Anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a programexecuted by a processor in an information processing apparatus having afirst wireless communication unit and a second wireless communicationunit capable of performing higher speed communication than the firstwireless communication unit, the program comprising: code for acquiringcommunication information from an image forming apparatus using thefirst wireless communication unit, wherein the image forming apparatusprints using a sheet in a feed tray of the image forming apparatus; codefor determining a sheet attribute that is used to perform printing basedon an attribute of print; code for causing the second wirelesscommunication unit to establish communication with the image formingapparatus using the acquired communication information; and code fortransmitting print target data to the image forming apparatus via theestablished communication, wherein sheet information for the feed trayis stored in the image forming apparatus, wherein, if the determinedsheet attribute corresponds to the sheet information for the feed traystored in the image forming apparatus, printing is performed, andwherein, if the determined sheet attribute does not correspond to thesheet information for the feed tray stored in the image formingapparatus, the sheet information for the feed tray being stored in theimage forming apparatus and an option corresponding to a printcancellation are displayed in a display area, and then processing basedon an instruction input via the display area is performed.
 14. Theapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first wireless communicationunit is a near field communication unit (NFC) and the second wirelesscommunication unit is a wireless LAN unit.
 15. The apparatus accordingto claim 1, wherein the first wireless communication unit is a Bluetoothunit and the second wireless communication unit is a wireless LAN unit.16. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sheet informationfor the feed tray is stored in the image forming apparatus by aninstruction from a user.
 17. The apparatus according to claim 1, whereinif the sheet attribute determined by the determination unit correspondsto the sheet information for the feed tray stored in the image formingapparatus, printing is performed using a sheet corresponding to thedetermined sheet attribute.
 18. The method according to claim 7, whereinthe first wireless communication unit is a near field communication(NFC) unit and the second wireless communication unit is a wireless LANunit.
 19. The method according to claim 7, wherein the first wirelesscommunication unit is a Bluetooth unit and the second wirelesscommunication unit is a wireless LAN unit.
 20. The method according toclaim 7, wherein the sheet information for the feed tray is stored inthe image forming apparatus by an instruction from a user.
 21. Themethod according to claim 7, wherein if the determined sheet attributecorresponds to the sheet information for the feed tray stored in theimage forming apparatus, printing is performed using a sheetcorresponding to the determined sheet attribute.
 22. A control methodfor controlling an information processing apparatus having a firstwireless communication unit and a second wireless communication unitwhich is capable of performing higher speed communication than the firstcommunication unit, the method comprising: acquiring communicationinformation from an image forming apparatus using the first wirelesscommunication unit, wherein the image forming apparatus prints using asheet in a feed tray of the image forming apparatus; determining a sheetattribute that is used to perform printing based on an attribute ofprint; causing the second wireless communication unit to establishcommunication with the image forming apparatus using the acquiredcommunication information; and transmitting print target data to theimage forming apparatus via the established communication, wherein sheetinformation for the feed tray is registered in the image formingapparatus, wherein if the determined sheet attribute is registered inthe image forming apparatus, printing is performed, and wherein if thedetermined sheet attribute is not registered in the image formingapparatus, an option group including a first option to print using asheet corresponding the sheet information being registered in the imageforming apparatus and a second option corresponding to a printcancellation is displayed in a display area, and then processing basedon an option selected from the option group is performed.
 23. The methodaccording to claim 22, wherein the first wireless communication unit isa near field communication (NFC) unit and the second wirelesscommunication unit is a wireless LAN unit.
 24. The method according toclaim 22, wherein the first wireless communication unit is a Bluetoothunit and the second wireless communication unit is a wireless LAN unit.25. The method according to claim 22, wherein the sheet information forthe feed tray is registered in the image forming apparatus by aninstruction from a user.
 26. The method according to claim 22, whereinif the sheet information corresponding to the determined sheet attributeis registered in the image forming apparatus, printing is performedusing a sheet corresponding to the determined sheet attribute.